Virtual Schools dispatch for Wisconsin Interest

I have a small "dispatch" regarding the virtual schools enrollment cap online at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute's website. The article is about two families who are hoping their children can attend Waukesha's IQ Academy this fall but are currently on the waiting list. An excerpt:

For parents like Deana Sheppard and Kathleen Seipel, the uncertainty is excruciating as they try to plan for school this fall. They have children on the waiting list for the state’s 14 virtual schools. Will they get in...or not?

That waiting list is the product of the new enrollment cap of 5,250 online students, insisted upon by Gov. Jim Doyle, as part of the political compromise engineered by the Legislature last year. The compromise kept the publicly run online schools open after the state’s largest teachers union won a lawsuit challenging state funding of the virtual schools.

Open the school house doors

Milwaukee State Representative Fred Kessler's attack on school choice has not gone unnoticed. Ricky on State of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opines:

Milwaukee State Representative Fred Kessler's Kessler would take it back to 19,500, down from the 22,500 negotiated three years ago by choice advocates and the governor. The problem: Choice schools have acted as if the governor's commitment meant something. As of November 2008, choice students numbered 20,244. And a couple of schools, again counting on that raised cap, have expansion plans that have already involved enrolling students. So, it's plain, that some students will have to be kicked out and others denied their choices. This is simply unfair.

To be fair, this is a matter of Assembly Democrats messing with the governor's commitment. But, if this amendment survives floor debate today or if the state Senate doesn't excise it in deliberations next week, the governor should stand by his commitment and veto the measure.

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker isn't happy either:

Fred Kessler and anyone in the State Assembly who votes for his motion to cut 3,000 students out of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program should be ashamed of themselves. This is an all out assault on kids and their families. It is pathetic when someone uses these young people purely as political pawns.

Maybe now people will see that white liberals like Rep. Kessler care more about flexing their political power than about the kids in these schools.

Will the legislature and the governor live up to the commitment made to school choice parents in 2006? Or will they tell (mostly minority) families that the path to a quality education is barred to them?

Will Democrats, once again, stand in the school house doors?

Kessler leads his governor back into school choice fight

State Representative Fred Kessler (D-Milwaukee) is no friend of the Milwaukee school choice program and proved it again with a purely gratuitous move to reduce the enrollment cap for school choice students from 22,500 to 19,500. Readers will remember the fight to set the cap at 22,500, and how much heat Governor Doyle took. Now the question is, will Doyle be willing to take the heat again to throw 3,000 students out of the choice program?

Besides putting Doyle on the spot, if the provision passes the Assembly it will put State Senator Jeff Plale and State Senator Jim Sullivan on record, too. Especially with Sullivan, this is not the fight the Democrats want.

Even liberal blogger and MPS teacher Jay Bullock recognizes this was a bad political move by Kessler. I suspect that if it makes to Governor Doyle's desk, he'll veto the cap reduction.

Republicans can win on education issues, and moves like Kessler's are just more ammunition for an education reform agenda.

Evers and Fernandez faced off before

Mike Dean and the First Freedoms Foundation, in the latest FFF newsletter, give the history of the last time State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidates Rose Fernandez and Tony Evers squared off. If you are interested in supporting the work of the First Freedoms Foundation, please visit their website.


Tuesday Primary for Superintendent of Instruction Includes Foes in Virtual School Fight

On Tuesday, February 17, five candidates will face off in the primary election in the race to succeed outgoing Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elizabeth Burmaster. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

Tony Evers
Rose Fernandez
Lowell Holtz
Van Mobley
Todd Allen Price

The two who receive the highest vote totals will oppose each other in the general election on April 7.

For Tony Evers and Rose Fernandez, however, Tuesday's election won't be the first time they've squared off. In 2004, WEAC (the state teachers union) sued to close Wisconsin Virtual Academy ("WIVA"), an innovative charter school operated by the Northern Ozaukee School District. WEAC also sued Superintendent Burmaster, demanding an injunction to prevent her from paying state reimbursements to the District for students enrolled in WIVA. Assistant Superintendent (and current candidate) Tony Evers was Burmaster's "point man" in the suit.

WEAC's main complaint was that WIVA parents were too involved in teaching their children because parents were not "licensed" to teach in a public school. When Burmaster and Evers "switched sides" and supported WEAC in 2005, First Freedoms Foundation intervened on behalf of state representative Mark Gundrum, his family, and nine other families whose children attended WIVA.

Rose Fernandez' children were also enrolled in WIVA, so she organized a support group, the "Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families." The Coalition filed a briefarguing that parents helping teach their own children did not violate state law.

The trial court granted judgment for the District and parents, and WEAC appealed. First Freedoms submitted a brief arguing that the only rational way to read state certification statutes was as a standard for minimum qualifications and performance by classroom teachers employed by school districts - that certification is a "floor" prohibiting certified teachers from doing too little, not a "ceiling" prohibiting parents from doing too much. The Coalition also filed a brief supporting parents' rights to assist in their children's education.

During the trial phase, attorneys for First Freedoms Foundation and the District had conducted an extensive deposition of Dr. Evers. First Freedoms' brief included numerous statements by Evers where he admitted that even though there were no standards providing how much certified teachers must actually teach, it was still his opinion that WIVA was illegal because parents were teaching too much.

The Superintendent's opening and reply briefs echoed Evers' position - even though there were no standards prescribing minimum performance by certified teachers, parents were still doing too much.

Unfortunately, the court of appeals decision overturned the trial court, and ordered the Superintendent to stop paying reimbursements to the district. The order to "defund" WIVA would have killed it, so First Freedoms and the District immediately appealed.

While the appeal was pending, however, Fernandez led the Coalition in a successful effort to pass legislation approving WIVA's method of operation, 2007 Wisconsin Act 222. The new law saved WIVA and several similar virtual schools across the state.

If Evers and Fernandez emerge the winners from Tuesday's primary, the April 7th general election could well be a statewide test whether Wisconsin voters favor Fernandez' philosophy of greater innovation and involvement by parents and non-certified persons or, instead, favor Evers' view that children are best served by restricting teaching exclusively to certified teachers.

Act of faith in education

A father and daughter are trying to keep open a Christian school in Stevens Point by camping outside in the December cold.

December isn't the month most of us think about camping outside.... but an area father and daughter are doing just that in hopes of raising enough money to keep Stevens Point Christian Academy--open.

Rob and Janine Golla are hoping to raise $100,000 and increase enrollment by 25 students at the church school by sleeping outside from December 22nd through January 1st.

Stevens Point Christian Academy is a K-12 school and has been in the community for more than 20 years as a part of Good News Fellowship Church.

The Pastor, Bishop Matthew Mallek says the school can accommodate about 120 students but with low enrollment numbers the school is endanger of closing.

Janine Golla is one of 22 students currently enrolled at the school and decided to take matters into her own hands.

Information on the school can be found at their website, and Janine Golla has a blog. The church is hosting a concert Monday night collecting donations for the school.

Lit drop needs to go back to school

Ruth Page Jones' volunteers were out again in our neighborhood do a lit drop but they headed for the hills when the rain/snow started. They were dropping off the misleading "Education" hit piece I mentioned in last week's Waukesha Freeman column.

Aside from the ridiculous statement about virtual schools, Jones' literature tells some absolute whoppers. For example, the statement that Bill Kramer did nothing while the state took $400,000 from Waukesha to give Elmbrook $2 million is absolutely false. Blaming Kramer for that is like blaming Larry Nelson for muggings in Milwaukee. What the hit piece does not mention is that the legislature was tied up in knots because Ruth Page Jones' allies in the State Senate were trying to pass the largest tax increase in state history for their "Healthy Wisconsin" plan, a plan about which the worst Jones has ever said is that she didn't think Waukesha residents would support it. This legislative mess is the cause of the rebate to Elmbrook. If Jones had a problem with it, tell her to call the governor and the Democrats in the state senate.

Jones promises to overhaul the state school funding formula to benefit Waukesha. Again, what a whopper. She should sell used cars. She must have fallen asleep when State Representative Sondy Pope Roberts (Dem) would not reveal her secret plan for changing school financing but readily conceded that any change that would have the support of the Democrats would mean Waukesha taxed more and receiving less.

Jones also claims Kramer has no solutions for Waukesha's spending problems. Never mind that the school board and the district administration have run the district so incompetently they have sunk themselves into a black hole of an investment scheme. Never mind that the district still has not closed a school despite a recommended plan to do so. Never mind that Jones displays prominently the endorsement of the former school board president who was ousted just this last spring, and in his endorsement he actually makes the false claims the classrooms are overcrowded.

Where was Ruth Page Jones when Kramer was in Madison fighting for a change in the QEO that would allow school districts to offer equivalent insurance if the school district could find it at a lower price than what the union charged? Where was Jones, despite her claims that over 80% of the district's costs are the result of personnel costs?

But hey, Bill Baumgart, former president of the Waukesha School Board, says Bill Kramer should go. Baumgart, who if he had any self-respect would resign from the board, says Bill Kramer should go.

Kramer is endorsed by the current school board president Dan Warren, who replaced Baumgart. I wouldn't accept either endorsement, but if I had to choose one?

*******

Speaking of endorsements, Ruth Page Jones received the endorsement of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Shocking, I know. Still, I'm not sure we'll be seeing the endorsement on anyone's doorknobs or in the mailboxes anytime soon.

In a very close call, we think Democrat challenger Ruth Page Jones deserves election based on her positions on such issues as the importance of regionalism and improving education in Waukesha and Milwaukee.

Specifically, what do they mean?

Among other issues, she supports a regional transit system and public financing of Supreme Court races.

In other words, pet causes far removed from the interests of Waukesha. At worst, her support of "regional transit" would mean, again, more taxes from Waukesha to pay for projects elsewhere such as light rail in Milwaukee. Instead of answering the question, who would be the better representative for Waukesha? The editors of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel looked for who from Waukesha would better represent them. Gee thanks.

At least we have an example of why newspapers should not issue endorsements.

You Mean This Competition Thing Works You Say?

This article in the DC Examiner caught my attention on the Metro this morning on the way to work.

In October 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world’s first satellite and called it an achievement “of the new socialist society.” Americans called Sputnik one high-flying reason to polish up the science and math skills of the nation’s youth.

“It got America pretty shook up that the Soviets were winning,” said George DeBoer, a deputy director at D.C.-based American Association for the Advancement of Science and the author of “A History of Ideas in Science Education.”

And even before Sputnik, DeBoer said, concern had been mounting over a perceived “softening” of American education.

So by May 1961, when President John F. Kennedy stood before Congress and called for the United States to win the race to the moon, changes in many math and science classrooms were already under way.

One can sense we're likely on the verge of another collective kick in the pants educationally in the realms of math and science. Already there are rumblings that the Chinese could get to the moon before the United States is able to make its triumphant return because of the bureaucratic nightmare NASA's become. Like it or not, but Americans are nationalistic enough to demand they retake what many would see as the nation's proper role in leading space exploration. This could lead to increases in what is taught in math and in science; and more importantly, how it's taught.

Of course on the other hand, given the utter dominance of the National Education Association (NEA) and its tentacle organizations like WEAC on public education in this country, you wonder if any sort of national educational reforms of the magnitude that took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s is even possible. Back then the NEA helped schools and worked to help children learn, they didn't begin to act like nothing more than a trade union it has morphed into until the mid 1970s.

The NEA's been going ballistic over "No Child Left Behind," for what are in essence, minor reform that demand for some accountability in teaching standards. What's to say what they would use their influence to put an end to something like the efforts this nation needs and requires to get active in another space race.

After all, since when has the National Education Association showcased that competition means anything to them?

Bricks in the wall

C'mon, you knew I was going to have that tune running through my head sometime this week. Anyway, my column is up at the GMToday.com site and it's a little more personal than I care to write, but what the hell. Today's the last day of school.

The professionals

I want to return to a point my wife made in the comments and the response it received. My wife said in part:

You dont know what we have put up with this year: the fear of our son being discriminated against because of his last name. The fact that I have been approached while I am volunteering my time at his school about my husband's articles and why he is so anti-education. Excuse me if I have lost faith in our educators and am saddened by the outright meanness by others who do not want to see the other side. (Your comment about "stout" certainly proves my point.)

John Foust responded:

Sorry, Doreen - Yes, if you stick your name and neck out, people are going to have an opinion about you. I've ticked-off as many as five districts simultaneously and many times have attracted a crowd carrying pitchforks and torches. Volunteering and being friendly and not holding grudges helps, of course, but there are plenty who will pre-judge you on your name, as there are those who will assume flaws in your mind or character due to the color of your skin or the brand of your shoe. Don't let it stop what you do. And think of the other Widgersons! {sic} They are probably thought guilty by association.

Let me elaborate a bit on my wife's frustrations. My son goes to Hadfield for four more days. After that, the school year ends and this fall he'll be attending a private school.

Hadfield, by all accounts, is as "central city" of a school as you can get in Waukesha. It has a diverse student population: white, latino, a few African Americans. When another school was threatened with closure last year, many of the parents feared their children would be sent to Hadfield which they considered a "ghetto school." Coming out of the Milwaukee Public School system, I have no idea what they are talking about, and they should seriously re-examine their bigotry.

Hadfield has a reading program and is probably nicer than the elementary school most of us attended as children.

My wife thinks its important to be involved in the schools, so she volunteers once a week. She's been approached twice in the last couple of months about my column, even though she is there to help the teacher.

The first time a teacher's aide told my wife flatly that her husband needed to spend more time in the classroom. My wife was stunned that someone would even say that to her when she is already volunteering at the school, otherwise she would have responded, "I don't think you want that."

The second time came from my son's teacher, who for no reason and with no warning asked my wife why her husband hates education so much.

We had been wavering on whether to put our son in private school before this. After all, there is a financial cost. I actually think there's a benefit to public schools, especially when they have a program of set standards and goals. And most of the other children in our neighborhood go to Hadfield.

But after those two incidents by supposed professionals, there is no way we can consider sending our child back to the public schools.

Do I think my child will be discriminated against? Probably not consciously. But given union behavior towards children before, and now towards members of my family, I'm not willing to take that chance.

I will not have my son subjected to any discrimination, conscious or otherwise, by union employees, nor will I allow my wife to be confronted when she is doing charitable work. They are not responsible for what I write, and if I cannot depend on educators' supposed professionalism then I will not subject my child to their whims.

When we were told that it was not necessary to schedule a teacher's conference this spring, I didn't think anything of it. But now I wonder, was it because of the progress my child made this school year, or because my wife volunteers, or was it because the teacher just doesn't want to deal with me? If these supposed professionals cannot contain themselves in a classroom setting, how can I expect them to behave during parent-teachers' conferences? How can I trust they are making the best decisions with my child's education in mind?

At the same time, I will not be silent on public school issues. As a member of the community, I not only have a right but a responsibility to speak out. I will not stop writing my column, and I will not stop writing my blog.

Furthermore, I find it absolutely outrageous someone would dare say, "Sorry, Doreen - Yes, if you stick your name and neck out, people are going to have an opinion about you." My child and my wife are not pawns that the teachers union can push, and they don't deserve to be treated any differently because of what I write.

Even if the teacher and her aide have a prejudiced opinion about anyone named Wigderson because I happen to write about education, these taxpayer-paid educators should be able to contain themselves and behave in a professional manner towards my wife who is volunteering her time and towards my child. And if they cannot, then they should no longer be teaching and leave the job to the professionals.

Re-arranging the deck chairs

Change is happening in the Waukesha School District. Superintendent Schmidt is leaving. Erik Kass, the director of business services, is taking a position in Madison. And now the school board has dumped Baumgart in favor of Dan Warren. But none of these changes mean a thing unless the school board and the district leadership change the direction of where they are headed.

Under Schmidt, Baumgart and Kass, the school district missed opportunities to create savings for the school district. They did not reverse a compression of the teacher salary tables despite the devastating effects of accelerating growth in teacher compensation. They did not close half-empty schools, dismissing the savings as not meaningful. They did not consider redistricting to reduce transportation costs even as the Milwaukee school district is taking the historic step of ending forced busing to reduce its costs.

Instead what Superintendent Schmidt and others have proposed is going to referendum to ask for more money. Before it can be even considered, the public’s trust has to be restored. If it is not, then any referendum, regardless of the size, is doomed to failure. Rightfully so.

I wrote previously that picking the right superintendent would be a good first step in restoring the public trust. Now Warren has been presented an opportunity to take an earlier step. As school board president, Warren should ask the state Legislature to audit the OPEB trust funds.

teachers, children hardest hit

Milwaukee Public Schools just announced the school year has been extended two days.

The additional days are required to make up for when all MPS schools were closed due to bad weather Dec. 11 and Feb. 6.

"We discussed simply adding minutes each day to our school days as some other area districts have been able to do," Superintendent William Andrekopoulos said. "We realized that would not have provided enough of the time that the Wisconsin Department of Instruction requires us to have."

One of the two makeup days will be in mid-May. The other will occur at the end of the school year in June.

Wednesday, May 14, will now be a student attendance day. It had been previously scheduled as a training day for staff.

In addition, for most MPS schools, Friday, June 13 is now a student attendance day and the last day of classes for the school year.

The scramble to reserve VCRs and DVD players for those days is on.

Prime cuts

The always informative Jo Egelhof at FoxPolitics.net has a list of suggested cuts for the state budget, and her readers chime in as well.

How about summer school? Non-essential summer school, that is. Offer classes only to seniors serious about getting their diploma, but missing critical credits.

As long as we’re talking about schools and being controversial, how about the SAGE program that provides for classes with no more than 15 students? Or simply allow a district not to have to offer SAGE everywhere – wouldn’t that make sense?

Ok, we’re on a roll. A reader suggested lowering the QEO – the maximum wage and benefit increases for school districts. Oh my. Heads will roll and the seas will part. But it’s a darn good suggestion and would have a significant impact on state and local budgets moving forward. (**See below.)

How about this? The Tomah Journal Sunday detailed the phasing out of retiree health benefits – for teachers hired for the 2007-08 year and beyond. (Most) any savings at the district level is a savings at the state level. Yeh!

Another reader suggestion: Eliminate the ethanol subsidy of $.20/gallon and the farm tax exemption. I don’t know anything about these programs, but am glad to throw them in.

There are more, but it does show that cuts can be made. It'll just take more willpower than what the legislature on both sides of the aisle have shown so far.

AT LAST

Once the virtual schools have a chance to prove themselves, and as long-term support for them builds, the caps will erode. We'll just have to be patient. But this is finally the end of the road to Democratic obstructionism and a big defeat for WEAC (even as it is a victory for some of WEAC's members that teach in these schools).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:Senate Passes Virtual School Plan, Bill Awaits Governor's Signature
March 12, 2008
Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families
For Immediate Release, March 12, 2008
For further information, Contact: Rose Fernandez, 262-565-4844
Senate Passes Virtual School Plan, Bill Awaits Governor's Signature

The Wisconsin State Senate gave final passage to SB396 today. It now awaits action by the Governor, who has publicly voiced his support and is expected to sign the bill soon.

Rose Fernandez, President of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families made the following statement upon the Senate's action:"This is a good day for advocates of education reform in general and public virtual schooling specifically. Especially when you consider how far we've come. Three months ago, public virtual schools were on the verge of shutting down because of a court order. Two months ago there was a proposal to cut per pupil funding at these schools in half. A month ago, we faced a two year enrollment freeze at present levels with the hope of only being able to grow to 4,500 students by 2015. When this bill is signed into law, a large bipartisan majority of legislators, the Governor and even the teachers' union will have been on record in support of fully funding those who enroll in these schools, have an enrollment cap of 5,250 students and the schools will be statutorily recognized as an important component of the public school system in Wisconsin. We did not favor any cap, but we still anticipate these schools will continue to thrive. We look forward to the positive results of the audit and we are thankful of those who supported us today, and all those who continue to be our champions. While our efforts proved that democracy can work for the little guy, our Coalition continues to grow larger and stronger with each passing day. We look forward to continuing to be a voice for thousands of families who deserve an opportunity to choose these great public schools."

Keep your fingers crossed

News comes from the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families:

Coalition Supports Bipartisan Measure that Breaks Stalemate over Virtual Schools

[Madison, Wisconsin…] The Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families is supporting the recently-announced bipartisan agreement regarding online public charter (virtual) schools.

“We are happy that lawmakers remembered the futures of real children were at stake here,” said Rose Fernandez, president of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families. “We are not thrilled about the eventual imposition of a cap on enrollment, but we are happy to see that not only was an agreement reached before session ended, but that the cap won’t be an immediate burden and that the two year enrollment freeze/lockout provision is gone.”

The agreement, released earlier today by Senator John Lehman and Representative Brett Davis, The new legislation will contain the key provisions of the previous compromise, including creating clear authorization for their operation, and creating new accountability measures.

According to the agreement, as early as tomorrow, the Assembly will vote to amend SB396 to incorporate the new compromise and send the bill back to the Senate for a concurrence vote:

-Eliminate the proposed two year enrollment freeze
-Raise the cap on enrollment in public virtual schools in Wisconsin to 5,250 (Current enrollment is less than 3,500) -Siblings of virtual school students will be guaranteed the opportunity to enroll, regardless of any cap

Don't take any chances and call your members of the legislature, especially if they're members of the governor's party.

Who will close the schools?

Here's the latest on efforts to save virtual schools:

Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families
www.wivirtualschoolfamilies.org

For Immediate Release, March 4, 2008
Contact: Rose Fernandez, 262-565-7844

Breaking the Stalemate III:


Senate Virtual School Enrollment Lock Out/Freeze Could Close Public Schools
Administrators Say Newer, Smaller Public Virtual Schools in Jeopardy

[Madison, Wisconsin…] The Capitol stalemate over a two year freeze of enrollment at public virtual schools is a dangerous game of chicken that leaves the educational future of thousands of schoolchildren at risk.

"The clock is ticking, and the Senate and Governor need to agree to negotiate with the Assembly," said Rose Fernandez, president of the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families. "While the sides work out an agreement on just how punitive an enrollment cap will be, they must ditch the enrollment freeze that locks out new enrollees for two years. Stifling the growth of some of Wisconsin's smaller public virtual schools will cause them to close. Which lawmaker wants to be the first in state's history to close down a public school?"

Some superintendents have said in legislative testimony and in letters to the editor that the two year enrollment freeze could mean the closure of their schools.

The superintendents of districts that operate virtual schools have a pending request before the Governor for a meeting to advance a compromise that saves Wisconsin's public virtual schools.

Yesterday, as Senate Democrats were gathering at a fund raiser in Milwaukee, the Coalition held a small demonstration wherein they pleaded for them to accept AB870, the BIPARTISAN compromise which passed the Assembly last week.

Holding signs that read: "Please Help Us," "Don't leave us out in the cold" and "Work Together," Coalition members respectfully petitioned the Senators to agree to eliminate the two year enrollment freeze.

"This is one issue that Democrats and Republicans have compromised on and worked together on," said Fernandez. "We're close to an agreement that saves these schools. It would be a travesty to see partisan gamesmanship obstruct AB870 and dash the hopes of thousands of Wisconsin's kids."

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction, teachers, students, parents, administrators and Republican and Democrat lawmakers are on record in support of the Bipartisan Virtual School Rescue Plan that includes the Governor's request for an audit of these programs and a modest enrollment cap but does not freeze enrollment.

Tim Carpenter and Jim Doyle decide that not every kid deserves a great school

While Wisconsin was distracted by the presidential primary on Tuesday, the Democratic-controlled state senate voted 17-16 to cap enrollment in Wisconsin's virtual schools until the effectiveness of virtual schools can be "studied". The vote was originally 17-16 against the cap, but Democratic State Senator Tim Carpenter flipped his vote, and a gallery full of virtual school students and supporters watched as Senate Democrats decided not every child deserves a great school. Children only deserve WEAC-approved schools.

It was only yesterday that Governor Doyle decided the carefully worked-out compromise between Democrats and Republicans wasn't good enough. Answering the WEAC hotline, Doyle announced that he wanted a cap on enrollment.

Perhaps Republicans should announce caps on enrollment in other forms of public education until some study shows that they work. Unlike virtual schools, there would be plenty of brick-and-mortar schools that would never open their doors again if they were held to any functional standard.

The students, parents and teachers that have chosen public virtual education have found schools that work for them. Will the Democrats get out of the virtual school house door?

Virtual Schools vote on Tuesday

While most of us will be distracted by the presidential primary, the state senate will be taking up the virtual schools compromise. The good news is that the legislation is finally moving forward. The bad news is that some in the state senate will try to use this opportunity to put unnecessary and harmful restrictions on this innovative education method. From the Wisconsin Coalition of Virtual School Families:

Indeed, we believe there will be attempts to impose new restrictions on virtual schools (including an arbitrarily tight enrollment cap) which are not a part of the compromise that was already negotiated and agreed upon.

1,100 of us marched on the Capitol to get us this far. Yet, while the carefully-crafted compromise passed with a unanimous bipartisan vote out of the Senate committee and by a two to one margin out of the Assembly committee, nothing is certain from this point out. So, we're not done yet!

As we said, we believe that opponents will try to attach "poison pill" amendments that, once included in the bill, would significantly alter the compromise. This would be an attempt to choke virtual schools toward their ultimate demise, or to purposely unravel the compromise. Either way, amendments to the fair compromise alter the bipartisan agreement that was announced just a few short weeks ago.

So, even though a fair, bipartisan compromise was worked out and agreed to, if we don't keep the pressure on, this deal could fall apart.

It is imperative that this bill receive a clean vote, up or down, without amendments. This long-negotiated, bipartisan compromise saw both sides give and take. The compromise has already been agreed to and received broad, bipartisan support. Including new concepts, new ideas, or new provisions at this late date would alter the agreement and could kill the compromise.

Remember, every kid deserves a great school!

Yes, it's true

You all exist merely for my amusement. Off to pick up the kiddies and then to tour a Catholic school, Torquemada Elementary or something like that. Somewhere that doesn't have public union employees asking my wife about the columns I write for the Waukesha Freeman.

In the meantime, talk among yourselves, have a drink, relax. After all, it's Monday.

Feel the education

Let's start with Garrison Keillor, who had a few thoughts on teaching students to read.

And then there is the grief that old righteous people inflict on the young, such as our public schools. I’m looking at U.S. Department of Education statistics on reading achievement and see that here in Minnesota — proud, progressive Minnesota — on a 500-point test (average score: 225), 27 percent of fourth-graders score below basic proficiency, and black and Hispanic kids score 30-some points lower than white on average.

The 30 percent of public school kids who come from households in poverty (who qualify for reduced-price school lunches) score 27 points lower than those who don’t come from poverty.

Reading is the key to everything. Teaching children to read is a fundamental moral obligation of the society. That 27 percent are at serious risk of crippling illiteracy is an outrageous scandal.

This is a bleak picture for an old Democrat. Face it, the schools are not run by Republican oligarchs in top hats and spats but by perfectly nice, caring, sharing people.

Nice people are failing these kids, but when they are called on it, they get very huffy.

There is much evidence that teaching phonics really works, especially with kids with learning disabilities, a growing constituency. But because phonics is associated with behaviorism and with conservatives, and because the Current Occupant has spoken on the subject, my fellow liberals are opposed.

Liberal dogma says that each child is inherently gifted and will read if only he is read to. This was true of my grandson; it is demonstrably not true of many kids. The No Child Left Behind initiative has plenty of flaws, but the Democrats who are trashing it should take another look at the Reading First program. It is morally disgusting if Democrats throw out Republican programs that are good for children.

Grown-ups who stick with dogma even though it condemns children to second-class lives should be put on buses and sent to North Dakota to hoe wheat for a year.

In Wisconsin, a blow was struck against liberal education dogma when the legislature was forced to move on saving virtual schools from a judicial guillotine. Two sisters wrote an op-ed piece describing taking on WEAC at the state capitol:

After a lawsuit by the Wisconsin teacher's union (Wisconsin Education Association Council) threatened to take away our school, we wanted the law changed to be certain that virtual education is an option in Wisconsin. There currently are 12 virtual schools in Wisconsin and more than 3,000 Wisconsin children who attend them.

The rally was in support of a new law or bill to protect an innovative type of public school -- virtual school. This type of school is a pioneering innovation that has the possibility to advance our state's national leadership position in education.

More than 1,100 students and their family members from around the state attended the rally. Most students called on their senators and representatives and told them why virtual schools are important and why they need to keep going. It was the first time we ever felt as though we were able to have a say in government. Now we really know what our history books mean when they talk about "democracy in action."

Before meeting the rally bus in Plover, we drove for an hour with our parents, our younger sister and the Routiers, another Marshfield virtual school family. The rest of the two-hour journey to Madison was fun and exciting because we were eager to take part in the rally and meet our legislators. The weather was perfect for an outdoor rally. Even though it was in the middle of January, we were warmed by the bright sunshine and by the energy of the crowd around us. We held out our signs and posters to people on the street while walking to the Capitol from our rally starting point.

The most exciting thing was actually being a part of the democratic process. We looked up and could see people who work in the Capitol building looking out the windows. There was a sea of people on the Capitol steps mightily shouting "Save our schools!" while proudly holding their signs high in the air. We learned that it was very unusual for so many people to turn out for a rally, especially since it had been organized in less than one week's time. The cheering crowd must have made quite an impression on those watching us from the windows.

The two sisters are even thinking of becoming legislators themselves someday. WEAC must hate to read things like that.

Meanwhile, Jessica McBride took exception to being called "negative" by Waukesha Forward:

Supposedly, it’s going to be impossible to find a replacement for Superintendent Schmidt (yes, despite the aforementioned $151,982 salary).

We’ll never get a superintendent, apparently, because Waukesha has a "venomous political climate," and the news media has portrayed the school district in a "bad light." This is according to Miles Turner, executive director for the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators.

Turner also told The Freeman that Waukesha has an "extremely negative political climate."

In other words, there are a bunch of conservatives in Waukesha County. The county has a newspaper that actually lets them write columns.

This reminds me of Democrats who say: "That election-stealing idiot war criminal George Bush is really divisive."

Waukesha Forward, a group that formed to push for a referendum to get our tax money for operational costs, also went after me and Freeman columnists Mark Belling and James Wigderson recently, calling us the "shrill voices of negativism and division." They stated that we are "the problem."

At least they didn’t call us nattering nabobs of negativism.

For the record, I am not shrill. I'm not divisive, I'm a unifier. I am the steady drumbeat of negativism until everyone agrees with me.

Not this administration, not this school board and not this year

Waukesha Forward, a group unfriendly to taxpayers, wants to push forward with a referendum for the Waukesha Public Schools. In this week's column for the Waukesha Freeman, I take a look at the current school board and administration and lay it out there: no, no, no.

Now Waukesha Forward is calling for the school district to ask for more money in a referendum. We don’t know the full impact yet of the new contract with the teachers, we don’t know yet who the new superintendent will be or even what criteria the school board will use, we don’t even know for sure what money would even be necessary to support the schools, but Waukesha Forward is ready to discuss going to referendum.

Perhaps an appetite suppressant might be in order to curb their desire for other people’s money.

The message from the public should be loud and clear. There is still far too much work to be done to restore the credibility of the school district before a referendum can pass. Not with this administration, not with this school board, not this year.

Not until there’s a fundamental shift in the direction of the school district.